


The Plague of Vienna

by strawberrypanicatthedisco



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Genre: Historical Fantasy, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 02:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17275649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrypanicatthedisco/pseuds/strawberrypanicatthedisco
Summary: Protagonist discovers "anti-plague" injections control people's individual thoughts and erase all traumatic memories causing them to be off-puttingly happy and without personality.Influenced By J. Sheridan Le Fanu's novel - Carmilla





	The Plague of Vienna

My father is English, and I bear an English name, although I never saw England. In fact, i've never seen outside the walls of Vienna. My father, an Austrian born veteran, who is the kindest man on earth, but growing old; and I, only just eighteen, live sombrely in the town square, south of the Danube river. In Vienna, money is obsolete, although my father remembers a time where it controlled the world. Now JOY tells us there is no need for materialistic goods as long as everyone is equal. I hear stories of the time before JOY restored serenity to Austria, when people fought over food scraps and children died from the plague. My mother, a Styrian lady, died from this same plague, but I had a good-natured governess, who had been with me from- I might almost say - my infancy. I could not remember the time when her fat, benignant face was not a familiar picture in my memory. Her name was Madame Perridone, a native of Berne, whose care and good nature now in part supplied to me the loss of my mother.

A day does not go by in which my father does not mourn her. Today, to much of my own unease, he talked as if she was still with us, whispering in a low soft voice **"what would you fancy, my love?"** as we browsed through the markets.

My attention was redirected by Madame Perridone's voice gabbling in animated dialogue with a stall keeper. We joined them at the drawbridge, and turn about to admire with them the beautiful scene of the Danube. My father, who enjoyed the picturesque with a distant gaze, and I, stood looking in silence over the expanse beneath us.

**"There's been news around the town that JOY have found an antidote for the plague",** said Madame Perridone as she waved off the shop keeper. My father turned abruptly to face the maid.

**"A cure? I have lost my darling wife, I can not bare to lose my daughter, we must take use of this at once"**. My father's sudden haste fueled my own eagerness. At this moment, the unwonted sound of carriage wheels and many hoofs upon the road, arrested our attention. It seemed to be a carriage of a person of high rank, we were all immediately absorbed in watching it pass the summit of the steep bridge and approach us. Coming to a halt in the town square, a JOY officer emerged, letting a high pitched call out of his bugle before opening the carriage door. The townspeople advanced in curiosity; I rather in silence, as a woman donned in red stepped out onto the cobblestone. She was a fine looking woman for her time of life, she was tall, but not thin, looking rather pale, but with a proud commanding countenance that held your gaze hostage.

**"Gather all, for I have important news"** I heard her say, with clasped hands and pursed thin lips. " **It must be known that our beloved JOY have blessed us with a cure to the unabated plague"** , she paused for an applause. **"In this coming week, each of you will be summoned to the hospital for your respective treatments",** her face hardened and voice grew sterner as her final words rang through the town square **"Ungratefulness for JOY's generosity will not be tolerated"**. And as elegantly and sporadically as she arrived, she was gone, the hooves of the horses leaving unsettled dust as the carriage whirled away. 

The following days went past much too slowly for my own liking as we waited for our summoning to the hospital. Madame Perridone and I were picking apples in the orchard behind the schloss when we were approached by our neighbour, a chubby man who lived very privately in the cottage down the road. He approached us with a grin **,** sweat dripped from his almost bald brow. Never before had I seen him smiling. He waved a chubby arm as he grew nearer with a spring in his slightly crooked step. His wooden stump of a leg clobbered awkwardly, he had lost his leg in the war, a terrible mine accident my father had presumed.

**"What a beautiful orchard!"** he proclaimed, turning himself on his able leg to face the expanse of the apple trees. **"No softer, sweeter scene could be imagined"** he added.

I did not think his grin could widen but at this moment it almost doubled in size. Madame Perridone and I shared a bewildered look.

**"My dear sir, are you not feeling your usual self?"** the maid asked in a worried tone.

**"I have never felt better for I have just returned from the hospital"** Before I could ask about his treatment he interjected. " **Although it puzzles me as to why I have a wooden leg, to much of my own amusement I can not remember."** I turned, expecting to receive another confused look from Madame Perridone, instead her gaze laid frozen on the man, her face expressed both terror and incredulity. I reverted my attention back to the man, only to witness him clobbering away with the same cheery manner as he came. I decided to brush the peculiar circumstance aside as the maid continued with her duties. We shared the rest of the afternoon in silence, this suited me as I could not fathom the earlier event and preferred not to speak of it. I leant to retrieve a fallen apple and felt a familiar hand grab my wrist. Madame Perridone ushered me closer, her cheek pressed against mine as she whispered briskly into my ear with a hurried tone and a shaking hand.

**"JOY is not to be trusted, you are witness to the strange happens around town; people who oppose the injections are going missing, those who receive them come back dazed and absent-minded, Colonel Joseph could not even remember losing his own leg, pray be careful"** she landed a chaste kiss on my cheek before picking up the apple and continuing up the trail towards the Schloss, leaving me stunned.

My father was the first of our household to be summoned to the hospital. On that very morning two JOY enforcers awaited him at the door and the same two returned with him just before noon. There was a particular strangeness about him at supper, it was his new-found inattentive disposition that made me feel so dismayed. Madame Perridone mirrored my own uncertainty as she dressed the table with an apprehensive look. The maid set down a fourth plate, a routine symbol of respect for my late mother. A confused expression encapsulated my father's face.

**"For your wife, sir."** explained Madame Perridone, noticing the same as I.

**"I do not have a wife."** replied my father with a careless tone as he began to eat his supper.

**"Do you not remember Mama? pray tell us you do!"** I questioned, the silverware quivering in my hand.

**"Pardon my love, I do not recall."** I felt my stomach turn over as my father's clouded eyes met with mine, he seemed to look on through me with a false sense of contempt. I realised at this moment, the horrid and exasperating truth, that he was not my father, but a numb and lifeless version of himself. Madame Perridone reached for my hand, squeezing it in a similar alarmed way. My father's voice startled the both of us as he placed his cold hand on top of ours, **"The doctors tell me that you are to be summoned for your treatment tomorrow morning."**

**"Father I do not wish to go, I fear you are quite unwell as a result of it"** I replied shakily, removing my hand from under his, rising to Madame Perridone in search of reassurance.

**"Nonsense my love, JOY are ready for you."** His fingers clasped around my wrist pulling me towards him, the sudden ferocity of his action caused me to stumble forward out of fear of my wrist snapping off. My attempt to retaliate in any form failed as his unfazed clouded eyes held me hostage. Drawing me in, baring his teeth, he spat, **"Ungratefulness for JOY's generosity will not be tolerated.** **"** The familiar words pierced through my skull as I was forcefully sat back down at the table.    


End file.
